


His Weakness (part 2)

by Cactilda



Series: His Weakness [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2020-07-30 16:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20099875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cactilda/pseuds/Cactilda
Summary: (Y/n) Dursely and Draco Malfoy had been practically attached by the hip since the day they met. Too bad a muggle-born witch and a pureblood wizard were never meant to be...!! this part will be shorter than the last !!(I apologize in advance for any mistakes grammatically or HP wise, it's been QUITE a while since I've watched the movies, and I've been relying on scripts for this. Also I apologize if Hufflepuff is not your house, I thought it was the most Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship without being too cliche.)





	1. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, still not dead yet

You sat in your room, bored out of your mind. You tossed a small rubber ball you had found up in the air and caught it as you lay on your bed. School would be starting again soon, and it was that reminder alone that kept you sane. A small exited buzz filled your chest as you thought about seeing your friends again! Draco and Cedric especially. You hadn't gotten many letters from them unfortunately, likely due to how little you were allowed to let Soren out. A loud clattering from the room next to yours stirred you from your thoughts and roused Soren from her nap. Harry's pet owl, Hedwig, was becoming agitated, likely from being cooped up all summer. Soren was beginning to get frustrated too as she flapped her wings and bit the bars on her cage noisily. You did feel bad for them, not being able to fly must be horrible!

"**Harry Potter! (Y/n) Dursley!**"

You groaned, and you swore you could hear your cousin Harry do the same in his room!

"Coming Father!" you shouted back, and sprinted out of your room, down the stairs and into the kitchen with Harry right behind you. Your mother was making a beautiful cake when you entered, and you glanced at it hungrily. You knew you wouldn't get any, but you didn't really care. "He's in there, Vernon," she said, barely looking up at you as you and Harry came in. You two nodded and rounded the corner where your father was standing, as large and frog shaped as ever. He was helping your brother adjust his suit, which matched your father's, both of them looked horrendously tacky. Vernon looked over at you and Harry with a poorly hidden look of disappointment and disgust, the kind of look that says, _oh, it's you, is it?_ even though the owner of such an ugly face had asked for you to come over. "I'm warning you," he said with an equally disgusted voice, "if you two can't control those bloody birds, they'll have to go!"

"But they're bored!" you said, trying to defend the birds' actions.

"If we could just let them out for an hour or two - " Harry began, but your father cut him off with a snort.

"So you can send secret messages to your freaky little friends? No!"

You winced, maybe if you hadn't told them about Draco, this wouldn't have happened and you and Harry could be writing letters to your friends.

"But we haven't had any messages from any of our friends!" you said, "Not one. All summer."

"Who'd want to be friends with you?" Dudley said, turning around. Anger bubbled inside you and you struggled to keep it down. He slammed his shoulder into Harry's as he passed, and Harry had to grip your arm tightly to keep from starting a fight. "i should think you'd be a little more grateful," Vernon continued, and you took a deep breath to calm yourself.

"We've raised you since you were a baby, given you the food off our table, even let you have Dudley's second bedroom purely out of the goodness of our hearts!"

From behind you, you heard Petunia smack Dudley's hand and say, "Not now, it's for when the Masons arrive!"

Your father's eyes grew wide and he threw his hands in the air. "Which should be in any minute!" he shouted, "Now, lets go over our schedule once again, shall we? Petunia, when the Masons arrive, you will be - ?"

"In the lounge, waiting to welcome them graciously into our home!"

"Good. And Dudley, you will be...?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door!"

"Excellent! And you?" Vernon said to you and Harry, his voice void of all enthusiasm it had held mere seconds ago. "We'll be in our rooms, making no noise and pretending that we don't exist," you two said in unison. 

"Too right, you will. With any luck, this could be the day I make the biggest deal of my career, and you will not mess it up!"

You internally rolled your eyes as you turned around and headed upstairs back to your room. The doorbell rung almost as soon as you opened your bedroom door, and you could hear Dudley asking for Mrs. Mason's coat. You flopped onto your bed but sat up almost immediately, as it sounded like someone was in Harry's room that certainly wasn't Harry! "Harry Potter," the voice said, "such an honour it is!"

The sound of Harry's door closing filled your ears and you heard no more of what was said. Of course, that did not stop you. Desperate for some excitement, you put your ear against your wall to listen to the conversation. "Who are you?" you heard Harry's muffled voice ask.

"Dobby, Dobby the house elf," the strange, high pitched voice responded.

"House elf?" you said to yourself.

"Not to be rude or anything, but this isn't a great time for me to have a house elf in my bedroom."

"Oh, yes sir, Dobby understands, it's just that, Dobby has come to tell you...it is difficult sir. Dobby wonders where to begin!"

"Why don't you sit down?"

"Sit down? Sit down?" Dobby seemed to grow stressed at this suggestion, and soon, you could hear wailing. "Dobby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything!"

"Offend Dobby? Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but never has he been asked to sit down by a wizard, like an equal!"

"Poor thing," you muttered under your breath. You hoped your parents downstairs couldn't hear Dobby's wails! 

"You can't have met many decent wizards then!"

"No, I haven't." There was a moment of silence before you could hear Dobby add quietly, "That was an awful thing to say," followed by a series of loud banging noises!

"What the hell?" you said, and leapt off your bed and quietly snuck into Harry's room.

"What is going on in here?!" you whisper shouted as you saw Harry trying to stop who you presumed was Dobby the house elf, who appeared to be wearing nothing but a pillowcase, from ramming his head into a dresser violently!

"I have no idea!" Harry responded when Dobby had finally stopped.

"Are you alright?" you asked, eyeing the elf nervously, as if he may erupt into another series of head slamming at any moment.

"Dobby had to punish himself, madam," he said looking up at you, "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family."

"Your family?" Harry asked.

"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir. Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they ever knew Dobby was here..." Dobby shuddered in fear. Then he looked up at you and harry and whispered urgently. "But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect Harry Potter. To warn him! Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year."

"Not go back? But... I have to," Harry replied, taken aback by the house elf's warning. "This is a plot. A plot to make most terrible things happen. If Harry Potter goes back to school he will be in great danger."

"What terrible things? Who's plotting them?" you asked.

Dobby began making a funny choking, gagging sound, almost like a strangled chicken! "Okay! I understand you can't say --" you began to say, but it was too late. Dobby grabbed the bedside lamp and began beating himself with it and yelping very loudly! As Harry tried to wrestle the poor lamp away from Dobby, you could hear your father's footsteps thundering up the stairs and towards the bedroom. You grabbed Dobby by the pillowcase and flung him into the closet right before Vernon threw the door open! "What the devil are you two doing up here?! You've just ruined the punchline of my Japanese golfer joke! One more sound and you two will wish you had never been born!"

He stomped away on his flat feet and slammed the door behind him. Once you knew he was gone, Harry let Dobby out of the closet. "See why I've got to go back?" Harry said, "I don't belong here. I belong in your world - at Hogwarts. It's the only place I've got....friends."

"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter?" Dobby asked. 

"Well, I expect they've been - hold on. How do you know my friends haven't been writing me?"

Your eyes widened. Had Dobby been taking Harry's letters? Dobby looked up at the two of you, his eyes filled with guilt as he pulled out a large stack of letters. "Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby - Dobby hoped that if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him, Harry might not want to go back to school sir."

"Give me those, **_now_**."

Dobby frowned then dashed out the door in a panic! You and Harry scrambled after him, trying desperately to catch him before he caused any chaos downstairs. You two raced into the kitchen and found him standing on the counter, waving his arms. Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding rose into the air and gently flew into the lounge, where it hovered over the Mason's heads. The Masons failed to notice the colourful cake above their heads, but the Dursleys had. 

"Dobby, please, **_no_**_!" _Harry whispered desperately.

"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school."

"I can't, Hogwarts is my home!"

A sad expression filled Dobby's face, and he said, "Then Dobby must do it sir, for Harry potter's own good."

You watched in horror as Dobby snapped his fingers, making the cake plummet onto your family's guests. They stood up in surprise, looking down at their cake covered clothes. "I'm sorry, it's our nephew. Very disturbed. Meeting strangers upsets him so we kept him upstairs...."

The Masons stormed out of the house with Petunia and Vernon following, pleading and begging them not to go. Just as they left, an owl flew through the sky and dropped a letter by Vernon's feet. Then he raced back inside and gave it to Harry to read, a mad gleam in his eyes. "Go on, read it," he said, and you watched out of view of your family as Harry read the letter.

"_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence at twelve minutes past seven this evening. As you know, underage wizards...."_

"Are not permitted to perform magic outside of school," Vernon finished. He snatched the letter from Harry and said, "You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic at home. Slipped your mind, did it?"


	2. 2

The next day, Vernon placed bars onto Harry's windows so he wouldn't be able to leave without anyone knowing. After the letter came in, your father forbid him from going back to Hogwarts. He had nearly forbidden you as well, but Harry had come to your rescue and said you had nothing to do with the unfortunate cake incident. However your father watched you even more closely to make sure you didn't try anything either. Now the summer was dragging by even more slowly. It was agonizing! 

One night while you were sleeping though, you heard what sounded like a car engine hovering outside your window. You sat up in bed, utterly perplexed by the sound. You got up and walked over to your window to see what was going on and were thrilled to see Ron and his older brothers! They were sitting in a flying car right by your window, so you pushed it up and stuck your head out, a joyful grin on your face.

"Ron? What on earth are you doing here?" you said, just loud enough for him to hear over the car but quiet enough for your parents not to hear you.

"Coming to get you and Harry of course! Is your trunk packed?"

"Yes! Let me grab it."

You turned to your room again and dragged it over to the window. Ron's older brothers helped pull it in while you, still clad in your sleep clothes, grabbed Soren and hopped into the car. Then you made your way to Harry's bedroom window. He awoke with a start, and after seeing you and Ron peering through the window at him, he ran over. "Hiya Harry!" Ron said.

"Ron," he said, a smile creeping onto his face, "Fred, George! What are you all doing here?"

"Rescuing you of course!" you grinned.

"Now come on, get your trunk!" Ron added. 

While Harry finished packing his bag, Ron attached a hook to the bars of the window and told Harry to stand back. One of the twins started driving the car away and the bars came off with a loud _clang! _ You winced, you knew your parents were up now. The Weasley boys backed the car up to the window and the trunk popped open so that Harry could throw his trunk in on top of yours. As he loaded his trunk in, you could hear your father shout at the top of his lungs, "**_Potteeeerrr!_** " 

"Hurry Harry!" you shouted urgently. Next came Hedwig, who Ron took and handed to you. You placed her on the seat next to you and turned back to help Harry into the car. Just then, his bedroom door flew open and Vernon came running in, hollering at the top of his lungs! Harry's eyes widened in fear and he leapt into the car, just barely making it, but Vernon lunged forward and grabbed onto his leg. You and Ron desperately tried to pull him free while the twins began trying to drive away, but his fingers were starting to slip loose from yours and Ron's hands.

"Hold on Harry!" you shouted desperately.

"Oh no boy, you and that bloody pigeon aren't going anywhere!"

Finally, Harry broke free and you and Ron pulled him into the car. "Step on it Fred!" Ron hollered, and off you were, flying through the night.

A few hours later, the car began swooping down from the sky and towards a rather hap-hazardous looking house. The car landed with a jolt and you awoke with a start, looking around at your new surroundings. "Where are we?" you asked groggily.

"Home sweet home!" one of the twins said, turning to grin at you.

You all quietly snuck into the home, careful not to wake anyone who may be sleeping, Mrs. Weasley especially. As you walked through the house, you stared at all of the odd trinkets laying around. A clock sat on the wall with a hand for every member of the family that pointed to their designated chores. A pair of needles hovered above a chair knitting a sweater, and a scrub brush was busy cleaning dishes in the sink by itself. 

You cocked your head at the sights and smiled at the clock. The Weasley's smiled back and you giggled. "It's not much," Ron said, breaking the silence.

"I think it's brilliant!" Harry grinned. Suddenly, a shrill and panicked voice snapped you out of your peaceful stupor as a woman with flaming red hair appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" she shrieked, standing in the doorway. When she spotted you and Harry huddled together, your eyes wide with fear, she smiled sweetly. 

"Harry! (Y/n)! How wonderful to see you!" she said, her voice suddenly warm and welcoming. You and Harry looked at each other in amused confusion when she turned back to the boys. "Beds empty! No note! You could've died! _You could've been seen!_"

"They were starving him mum!" Ron defended, "There were bars on his window!"

"You best hope I don't put bars on your window Ronald Weasley!" she shouted, then turned back to you and Harry with a soft smile on her face, "Care for a spot of tea you two?"

Mere minutes later, Mrs. Weasley had all of you seated at the table with your plates piled high with delicious foods. Ron's house and family was so much more different than yours, and you loved everything about that. Everyone clearly loved each other, and while the house wasn't entirely in the best condition, it was warm and welcoming, and quite frankly, perfect. You loved it!

A small red haired girl bounced into the kitchen while you ate and said, "Mummy have you seen my jumper?" Her eyes landed on Harry and they widened. She took a step back, then turned and dashed back up the stairs. _What was that all about? _you wondered. "That was Ginny, she's been talking about you all summer. Dead annoying really," Ron said, rolling his eyes. 

George's eyes lit up a moment later and he cheered, "Dad's home!" You turned and watched as a red haired man with worn out robes walked through the front door and grinned at everyone. "What a night!" he said, "Nine raids! Nine!"

"Raids?" you asked Ron. 

"Dad works for the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office."

"Misuse of Muggle Artifacts...?"

"When wizards bewitch something to drive muggles mad. Shrinking door keys, that kind of thing. Dad loves muggles, thinks they're fascinating."

Mr. Weasley hung up his cloak and blinked at you and Harry. "Well now who are you?" he asked.

"Harry, sir, Harry Potter, and this is my cousin (y/n) Dursley."

"Good lord are you really? Ron's told us all about you two! When did you get here?"

Mrs. Weasley answered for you, her voice suddenly dark and serious, "This morning. Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night."

"Did you now! How'd it go?" Mr. Weasley caught his wife's eye and he cleared his throat. "I...I mean that was very wrong boys. Very wrong indeed. So, Harry, (y/n), you two must know all about muggles! Tell me, what exactly is the use of a parking meter?"

Harry was about to answer, when the two of you noticed an owl soaring towards the kitchen window. To your horror, the poor creature didn't pull up but instead flew right into the glass with a loud _smack!_ Mrs. Weasley, with an unfazed look on her face, said, "That must be Errol with the post. Fetch him will you Percy?"

Percy stood up and went to pick up poor Errol. When he came back in, he laid the unconscious bird on the draining board and grabbed the letters clutched in his talons. "It's our Hogwarts letters!" he grinned, "They've sent (y/n)'s and Harry's as well!"

George handed you and Harry your letters and you tore them open. "Dumbledore must know you're here. Doesn't miss a trick, that man!" Mr. Weasley smiled. You looked over at Fred, who suddenly seemed upset with the list of books. "This lot won't come cheap, mum. The spellbooks alone..."

"We'll manage. Right then! There's only one place to get all of this"

"Diagon Alley!" everyone cheered.


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this took so long to upload!! I should be posting more routinely soon since I've started being homeschooled. Also my wifi SUCKS ASS AND I HAD TO RETYPE THIS WHOLE CHAPTER 3 T I M E S

Mrs. Weasely gathered you all in front of the large fireplace after you all had eaten, cleaned yourselves up, and dressed in your school robes. She picked up a pot that was hung off the brick wall beside the fire place, and gestured for you to come up and go first. "Here we are, (y/n), you go first dear," she said, offering you the pot.

"But (y/n)'s never traveled by floo powder before mum!" Ron said.

"Floo powder?" you asked, peering into the pot. It was filled with a light gray dust that slightly resembled ash. "Oh, then you go first Ron, so that Harry and (y/n) can see how it's done." Ron nodded and stepped into the fireplace. You sent Harry a confused look, as if he'd have the answer, but he only shrugged in response! Mrs. Weasely ushered everyone back away from the fireplace, which only made your confusion grow. Ron grabbed a handful of the dust in the pot, then shouted, "Diagon Alley!" at the top of his lungs. He threw the dust down onto the floor of the fireplace and you stifled a scream as huge green flames leapt out from the floor and swallowed him up! You and Harry clung to each other as the flames died down and didn't leave so much as a pair of smoking shoes in Ron's place! "What the bloody hell?" you muttered under your breath, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"You see?" Mrs. Weasley said, stepping in front of you again, "It's quite easy dear, don't be afraid, come on!" You hesitated, still trying to understand what exactly had happened, when Fred nudged you forward and said, "Go on, it's not as scary as it looks."

"If you say so!" you said uneasily, though trusting Fred. He wouldn't really have endangered his brother, and then you, would he?

You pulled your arm out of Harry's grasp and grabbed a handful of the dust before stepping into the fireplace. Despite being ablaze with green fire not three minutes prior, it was surprisingly cool! You took one last look at the faces in front of you before shouting , "Diagon alley!" and throwing down the dust. Your eyes squeezed shut as the sense of falling filled you. Then, all at once, the feeling disappeared and you tumbled through a door and into a familiar, busy cobblestone street! A pair of arms caught you and helped you stand up properly.

"Thanks Ron," you said, his fiery red hair catching your eye before his face. "No problem! Where's Harry?"

"On his way I think." A moment later, someone else came stumbling out of the door. However, instead of having wild, dark hair like Harry, this boy had red hair! "George," Ron spoke up, "where's Harry?"

"We dunno," Fred said, popping through the door after his brother, "He said Diagonally instead of Diagon Alley!"

"Oh bloody hell," Ron muttered, kicking at rock on the road.

"Well we're going to find him, right?" you asked nervously.

"Oh yeah, Mum and Dad just need to get here and then we'll go looking for him. He'll probably be just a few gates away."

You breathed a sigh of relief. A few minutes later, Percy, Ginny, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley joined the rest of you out on the street. "Alright everyone," Mr. Weasley said, gathering everyone around, "We need to find Harry. Hopefully he only went one or two gates away from where he was supposed to, so he'll be around here somewhere. Buddy up, and we'll meet in front of Flourish and Blotts in one hour!"

The family dispersed and you and Ron paired up to go looking for your lost cousin. As the two of you wandered the streets in search of Harry, you would occasionally ask people if they had seen the lanky, wild-haired, bespectacled boy, but they never had. You were beginning to lose hope as your hour ticked by, and you and Ron sat on a shop window ledge to take a break from walking. "I hope we find him soon," you said, worried about Harry.

"I'm sure we will! He's got to be around here somewhere," Ron said, trying to comfort you.

A fluffy haired girl walked by the two of you, and your eyes lit up. "Hermione!" you cheered, and she turned around and grinned!

"(Y/n)! Ron! It's so good to see you!" she said, running over, "Where's Harry?"

"He tried using floo powder for the first time and said Diagonally instead of Diagon Alley," Ron said.

"Oh no! He probably landed in Knockturn Alley!"

"Knockturn Alley?" you asked.

"It's where all the bad witches and wizards go to buy really shady things," Ron said.

A shiver ran down your spine and you grew increasingly worried about Harry. "We have to go and find him then!"

"Are you mad?" Ron said, "We wouldn't last ten minutes there! You and Hermione especially since you're both Muggle born!"

Hermione saw how uneasy you were getting, and said, "Don't worry, (y/n), I saw Hagrid going there a few minutes ago! I'm sure he'll find Harry and bring him back!"

"I hope so."

"We need to start heading up to Flourish and Blotts, (y/n), the others will be waiting for us," Ron said, and the two of you said goodbye to Hermione. Everyone was gathered outside the bookshop when you arrived, looking disappointed. Fred looked up and said, "No luck?"

You shook your head in defeat. "We ran into Hermione while looking for him, and she said he might have landed in Knockturn Alley," Ron said, and everyone got a look of horror on their face! "Hagrid was going down there as well though, so it's only a matter of time before they're back!" you added, trying your best to sound like your usual optimistic self.

Mrs. Weasley calmed down a little bit, and said, "Well then, while we wait, lets all head inside to find your books, shall we?" You all did your best to cram into the abnormally crowded shop, though there was quite a bit of difficulty, as well as some pushing and shoving.

Finally inside and away from most of the crowd, you began searching the spines of books to find the ones you needed. As you trailed along the shelves and scanned the stacks, a pair of hands covered your eyes! "Guess who?" a sing song voice chimed, and you grinned at its wonderful familiarity. "Draco!" You spun around and went to hug him, but he held up a hand to stop you before you could even lift up your arms!

"My parents' friends are everywhere, follow me."

He gestured for you to follow him upstairs, so you did, trying your best to hide the Hufflepuff patch on your cape discreetly. Finally, out of sight from the customers downstairs, you turned back to talk to your friend. "I'm sorry I didn't - oh!" Draco immediately wrapped you in a tight hug, and you realized how much he had grown! You hugged him back, and rasped, "Draco, can't breathe!"

"Oh! Sorry!" He let go of you and your crushed lungs filled with air again. "I'm sorry I didn't write all summer," you began again, "My parents weren't allowing us to even let our owls out of their cages!"

"Yeah, I figured your parents had something to do with it."

A bright flash from downstairs blinded you and Draco for a moment, and when your eyes had recovered, you peered over the railing to see Harry standing next to a pompous looking man. You breathed a deep sigh of relief as you saw your cousin was safe and sound, though certainly quite scuffed up! However the man next to him was quite the attention grabber, with a dramatic and arrogant air about him. "Who's that?" you asked.

"Ugh, Gilderoy Lockhart," Draco gagged, "He claims to be this all powerful wizard, but I think he's an absolute git."

"He looks like one, that's for sure," you said, and Draco snickered. 

After Harry was finally released from Gilderoy's grasp, you turned and went downstairs to join him and the Weasleys. Draco followed you down for a little bit, then stopped halfway down the stairs and picked up a book. You watched him out of the corner of your eye as he flipped through it, then tore out a page. You were about to confront him about it, when Harry caught your attention. "(Y/n)!" he called out as he pushed his way out of the crowd.

"Harry! Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?" Draco snapped, interrupting you and hopping down the rest of the stairs to stare down your cousin. Your heart fell with disappointment. Clearly you'd have to put up with their antics again this year "Draco - " you started, trying to stop him, but he ignored you. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't go into a bookshop without making the front page!"

"Draco!" you said, more harshly. He glanced at you through the corner of his eyes but didn't acknowledge you in any other way. "Leave him alone," little Ginny said darkly, stepping up to face Draco. You suppressed a grin and Draco shot you a look; you made a mental note to thank Ginny for standing up to him later! Unfortunately, her show of bravery didn't last too long, and Draco just used it as encouragement and leverage. "Look Potter! You've got yourself a girlfriend!"

The silver snake-like head of a cane came down on his shoulder a second later, and you backed away. A tall man with long white hair tsked at Draco and drawled, "Now, now Draco, play nicely!" You knew exactly who this man was, and you desperately wanted to turn invisible. Draco stood by your side and grabbed your hand, noticing how tense you had become. "You look like a scared rabbit, he'll notice," Draco whispered, and you tried to relax a little. "Mr. Potter," Draco's father smiled, though it felt cold, and his eyes held a malicious gleam. "Lucius Malfoy, we meet at last," he stuck a gloved hand out, and Harry took it. 

Your grip on Draco's hand tightened when Lucius suddenly pulled Harry closer to him, and used the silver snake head on his cane to brush back Harry's bangs, revealing the legendary scar. "Forgive me," he said, "Your scar is legend! As, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents," Harry hissed, tearing out of Lucius' grasp, "He was nothing more than a murderer."

"You must be very brave to mention his name, or very foolish!"

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Hermione interjected, and Lucius rounded on her.

"And you must be Miss Granger! Yes, Draco has told me all about you, and your parents. Muggles, aren't they? And who might you be?" Lucius turned to face you now.

You almost jumped out of your skin as his cold, silver eyes bore into yours, and you released Draco's hand. "You've been awfully quiet this whole time."

"She's no one you need to worry about father," Draco said, almost stepping in front of you.

"Come now, Draco, let the girl speak for herself!"

You took a deep breath, you had braved a three headed dog and survived a game of lifesized Wizard's Chess, what was one muggle-hating wizard compared to those? "Dursley, (y/n) Dursley," you said, trying not to let your voice shake and putting on a brave face.

"Ah yes, I do remember your name! You're Mr. Potter's cousin, yes?" You nodded. He smirked, and you readied yourself for a barrage of unsettling questions, but none came. Instead, Lucius turned his attention to the Weasleys, and began berating them until Mr. Weasley came to everyone's rescue. After a passive aggressive, hushed discussion between the two men, the Malfoys left and you felt like you could breathe again. As Draco turned to leave, he gave your hand one last squeeze and whispered, "See you on the train!" You nodded and he followed his father out of the shop. 


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guuuuyyyyyys, not dead!!! I'm soooooo sorry for not updating, so much has been going on these past few months so I completely forgot I had this account, and that people still read stuff from me (and like it for some reason). Fortunately though, things have calmed down for the most part

You, Harry, and the Weasleys left not long after the Malfoys, however you were leaving awfully close to when the train to Hogwarts would be departing as well. Everyone crammed into the car again, this time with more books, and you flew off to Kings Cross station, making sure to remain invisible until you had landed and parked the car. Now it was even closer to when you should be leaving. Everyone piled their trunks and other belongings onto carts and ran through the station, trying to get to your gate on time without running over anyone in the process. It was harder than you thought. Several times you accidentally ran over someone's foot, earning you a series of angered swears while you apologized profusely to them. Finally, nearly out of breath, you spotted your gate and broke into a sprint to get to it on time. "10:58 come one, come on!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "The train will be leaving any moment!" Mrs. Weasley's shrill voice added.

"Fred, George, Percy, you first!" Mr. Weasley commanded, and the boys ran ahead of you and through the gate. "(Y/n), you next!" 

You nodded and sped up, flinching just before you went through the gate but making it through nonetheless. "Come on!" Fred said, waving you over to the cars to help you load your things on the train. "Coming!" You pushed your cart over and got help loading on your trunk into the cargo car. Ginny came through the gate not long after you, so you and Mrs. Weasley helped her load her things as well before the two of you clambered onto the train, leaving Mrs. Weasley tearfully bidding you farewell on the platform. The sight tugged at your heartstrings, and you quickly hopped off the train to hug her and Mr. Weasley goodbye. Your arms wrapped around them, and theirs were around you in an instant. The embrace felt perfect to you! "Thank you," you mumbled into Mrs. Weasley's coat, ignoring the small lump in your throat. Even though you had only known them, for a day, they were more of a mother and father to you and Harry than your own parents! Mrs. Weasley pecked the top of your head, "Of course dear. Now get a move on! Or you'll miss the train!"

She ushered you onto the train and bid Ginny farewell one last time before the doors slid shut. As the train left the platform, you realized you hadn't seen Harry and Ron come through! Your heartbeat spiked and you hoped that they had just slipped past you when you were saying goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "Is something wrong?" Ginny asked, noticing your worried expression.

"No, just thinking! Let's go find you a seat," you said. You didn't want to tell her that her brother and Harry may not have made it on the train, especially not on her first day to Hogwarts!

You lead her through the cars helping her find somewhere to sit while also discreetly looking for Ron and Harry. While she did eventually find a seat with a few of her friends, you had no such luck. Either they were on a car you hadn't checked yet, or they hadn't made it on the train. You eventually gave up looking for them though. Draco found you wandering the hall of his car later, and invited you to sit with him, so you did. "Hello Crab and Goyle," you said when you sat down. They seemed to be a little more tolerant of your existence this time, and they acknowledged you with coherent hellos in return. Draco seemed rather proud of their accomplishment, and you stifled a laugh as he seemed to think he was responsible for their abnormal liveliness. Once again, you found yourself enjoying this side of Draco so much more than the side that ignored you and bullied your friends. It was as if he had two personalities! Was this some weird facade he kept up to seem intimidating, or to impress his father? Maybe both!

At least he could be himself around you. Although, this did beg the question as to why he was being himself right now, even with Crabbe and Goyle around. They probably didn't know you were muggleborn, and just assumed Draco was friends with a normal wizard despite you being a Hufflepuff. He was happy though, and that was all that mattered to you, so you continued reading. The snack cart came halfway through the ride, and you bought a healthy amount of chocolate frogs and peppermint toads, while Draco bought an assortment of other candies. 

Eventually, you became too tired to continue reading, so you marked your place in the book and fell asleep. Your head fell onto Draco while you slept, but he didn't mind, as he had fallen asleep too, and soon is head was rested on yours. At one point in your sleep, you thought you had heard the train blowing its whistle loudly, but it didn't quite register, so you continued sleeping.

The train stopped a few hours later, and you stretched and rubbed your eyes. This time, waking up on Draco's shoulder wasn't nearly as jarring as the last time, as the two of you had become extremely close since last year! You woke him up a minute later, and he begrudgingly opened his eyes and grumbled some incoherent complaints, earning a small chuckle from you. The sound of your laughter made him feel a little less disgruntled, and he got up a little more willingly. However, someone bumped into him on the way off the train, and you had to restrain him from attempting murder. Maybe he was always tired and that was why he acted like someone else when other people around?

Unfortunately this year, since you were no longer first years, you would not be getting a dramatic entrance to the school with the boats. Instead you'd be taking self drawn carriages. They were fascinating, but not as dramatic as the boats. Everyone got to there before the first years in order to provide a warm welcome to their new school. Especially since this would be their new home until Christmas, then summer break! 

As you hopped out of the carriage, you recognized an oh so familiar lanky figure with a mop of curly hair. "Cedric!" you shouted, and he turned in your direction, a big grin forming on his face as he spotted you in the crowd of students. "(Y/n)!"

You wished Draco farewell, and he grumbled goodbye back. You gave him a look, but turned and bounded over to your friend, who swept you up in a hug promptly! He lifted you off your feet and you laughed raucously! "Why are you so tall?!" you playfully teased.

"Because I finally hit the rest of my growth spurts over the summer!"

"Unfair!"

Cedric set you down and you straightened out your uniform. It was good to be back at Hogwarts.


	5. 5

Harry and Ron were still missing when you got to the great hall, and even Hermione was worried. The two of you didn't have long to figure out where they might be, since the new students would be coming in soon, and you all needed to find your seats. The first years were nervous and shy when they came into the great hall, so much so that they resembled scared deer! You felt sympathetic towards them, after all, you had been in their shoes just last year! There were more first years than when you had been accepted, but that was alright! In fact, maybe you could make a new friend or two!  
About halfway through the ceremony, you heard a loud roar like an engine outside the hall, and you looked up at one of the windows. Your heart skipped a beat when you saw the Weasleys' car flying uncontrollably by before swerving and dipping down out of sight! Cedric noticed your baffled look, and followed your gaze, but the car had already gone. "You alright?" he asked.  
"Uhm, yes? I just....thought I saw something."  
You gave him a small smile and he shrugged and turned back to the ceremony. If Harry and Ron were in that car, you knew they'd be in loads of trouble soon. You didn't find out how much, exactly though, until the next day at lunch.

Your first class the following day was one you had been looking forward to: herbology! To your delight, Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all in class with you! "Good Morning everyone!" Professor Sprout said as she shuffled in, an eager look on her face as she tapped on a pot with her wand. "Good Morning everyone," she repeated, louder this time.  
"Good Morning Professor Sprout!" everyone said.  
"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second years!" she said cheerfully, "Now gather around, everyone!"  
Everyone shuffled a little closer to wear she stood at the head of the table. "Today we are going to re-pot Mandrakes," Professor Sprout explained, turning to pick up the pot behind her, "Who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake Root?"  
Hermione raised her hand beside you.  
"Yes, Ms. Granger!"  
She smiled, "Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been petrified, to their original state!" Professor Sprout nodded approvingly, clearly impressed, so Hermione continued. "It's also dangerous. The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it!"  
"Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor!"  
"Good job!" you grinned, nudging her lightly. She smiled widely and thanked you while Professor Sprout continued.  
"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet, but they could knock you out for hours, which is why I've given each of you a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection. So could you please put them on right away? Quickly!"  
After everyone had their earmuffs on, she made sure they were on tightly before her demonstration. "You grasp your Mandrake firmly, you pull it sharply out of the pot," she yanked her Mandrake out, and the greenhouse was instantly filled with an ear piercing shrieking! The mandrake hung from her gloved hand, writhing about furiously and screaming its ugly little head off! "Got it? And now you dunk it down into the other pot and pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm."  
As Professor Sprout filled the pot, Neville Longbottom let his earmuffs go for a little too long, and he fainted. Sprout sighed and said, "Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs."  
"No ma'am," one of Harry's friends, Seamus, said, "he's just fainted!"  
"Yes, well, just leave him there. Right, on we go. Plenty of pots to go around. Grasp your Mandrake and pull it up!"  
You grabbed the stems of yours, and pulled up as fast and as hard as you could, sputtering as dirt flew up with it! The greenhouse was soon filled with an abhorrent amount of screaming from the plants, and it was a struggle to keep focused on your task! You looked over at Draco only to see him stick a gloved finger in his Mandrake's mouth. Naturally it bit down and he had to really try hard to get his finger back out! He quickly noticed you laughing and turned bright red before dumping his in a pot and pouring dirt on it, avoiding your gaze. You chuckled ad focused back on re-potting your Mandrake.  
Mercifully, everyone got their task done fairly quickly and class ended not long after. You and Harry had the same class after that, so during your free time he told you about how the gate to the train had closed, that he and ron had to steal the flying car to get to school, and how they had almost gotten expelled! "Thankfully Professor McGonagall only gave us detention and wrote to our families," he'd said with a heavy breath of relief. Lunch came later in the day, and you sat with Cedric as usual, telling him about how Draco had been bitten, and what had happened to Harry and Ron until he began telling you about the upcoming Quidditch games. Although he wasn't on the Hufflepuff team yet, he was just as excited as they were about the upcoming season. They wouldn't be happening for a while, but he was excited nonetheless. While he babbled excitedly about the season, you noticed a familiar scrappy looking owl fly overhead. "Oh boy," you mumbled, this couldn't be good.  
"Oh boy indeed," Cedric said upon spotting the Weasleys' owl. It crashed on the Gryffindor table right in front of Ron, eliciting laughter from the students. You saw him pick a red envelope from the bird's beak as it jumped up and flew away. "A howler," Cedric groaned.  
"What's that?"  
"It's used when the sender is beyond furious, and it screams whatever message it was given. If it's not opened by whatever poor soul got it, it'll explode and scream the message on its own!"  
"Oh dear. Ron's never gonna make it out of that alive!"  
You watched with a mix of dread and amusement as Ron pulled open the waxed seal with shaking hands, and all hell broke lose. "RONALD WEASLEY!" the howler screamed as it took the form of a sharp toothed crimson mouth. The ribbon on the front flicked about like a forked tongue. "HOW D A R E YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER IS NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" It turned slowly to face young Ginny Weasley next, who had turned as red as the envelope. In a much softer voice, it said, "And Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud!" After that, it tour itself to shreds and was silent.


End file.
